Indiana Social Studies IS.4.5

Social StudiesGrades 9–12Economics

The Standard

Analyze how the concept of “Creative Destruction” has impacted communities throughout Indiana.

2026 Indiana Academic Standards: K-12 Social Studies

Teacher's field guide

What Students Need to Do: Students explain how new technology or businesses can create jobs while replacing older work in Indiana communities. They trace effects on workers, nearby businesses, and city services using evidence from specific places.
What Mastery Looks Like: A student can explain how steel mill automation changed jobs in Gary and how battery production is changing work in Kokomo. They name who gains, who faces losses, and one effect beyond the factory.
Common Misconceptions: Students may assume new jobs go to the same workers who lost old ones. They may also treat a factory closure as only a business problem, missing its effects on local shops and tax revenue.
How to Assess It: Exit ticket: Steel mill automation means a Gary plant needs fewer workers. Name one possible benefit, one cost to the community, and one fact you would check before judging the overall effect.

Lesson moves

Give groups job cards for a Gary steel mill before and after automation; have them sort jobs that stayed, changed, or disappeared.
Ask students to write: If a Kokomo battery plant hires workers, who might benefit, and who might need new skills?
Play a cause-and-effect matching game with cards for factory changes, worker income, local shops, and city tax revenue.
Read a current Kokomo battery plant job posting beside an auto assembly posting; have students circle skills each job requires.

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A ready-to-print activity worksheet aligned to IS.4.5, with an answer key for the teacher on its own page. No account needed.

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